Roles needed in a Transformation
When it comes to Transformations all companies are looking for the right team to lead this critical work. Companies, blog posts, white papers, podcasts all talk about this mythical team made up of superstars — but who exactly is this team? What are the right roles for this all-star team? How do they together?
These roles are important as well as the right mix of roles. For example, you are not going to win the World Cup with 11 strikers. Similar to a sports team everyone in a transformation has a role to play.
We all know you need a process person or a requirements person or a digital person but this is more at the macro level. What are the personalities that you need on your transformational team for your company to be one of the 16% of the successful transformations?
My podcast co-host Vincent Mirabelli and I have broken down our team to nine different and important roles.
The Leader
The Leader is the person that gets people to act by bringing together the team to be greater than the sum of its parts. This is the person that the team rallies around because they want to deliver for that person.
The Leader creates an environment that allows the team to thrive. The leader empowers by clearing the path for the team to do great work.
The Visionary
The Visionary envisions and drives the future state. The visionary sees the future and formulates an overarching vision and plan to get to this new world.
The Entrepreneur
In large companies, the thought that work just magically appears at your doorstep or the work that is a value add will come your way is a myth. The Entrepreneur is the person that goes out and gets the good work for your team.
The Rebel
The Rebel pushes the status quo and pushes the team to be better.
The Rebel is someone who does not accept the current state. The Rebel asks “Why do we do what we do?” and says “We can do what we do better”.
The Empathizer
The Empathizer is your customer-centric person. The Empathizer brings the team back to the “why”. Why does your company exist? Why are you doing the things you do? Why does your team exist?
The Empathizer puts your customer at the centre of everything you do. They drive what your customers need from your products or services. This role drives the team to think about what your customers need and expect from your business.
The Experimenter/Improvisor
The Experimenter/Improvisor is able to push your team beyond their comfort zone — which helps create innovative products or services.
The Experimenter/Improvisor pushes boundaries. When a problem arises — usually in the development cycle of either a product or a service that’s where the Experimenter/Improvisor shines by being able to imagine a solution or a new direction in real-time.
The Detective
The Detective is the person who continuously focuses on what the data is presenting. The Detective digs through all the data to get exactly what direction the team needs to support and drive towards.
The Detective is agnostic of the solution as their only agenda is getting to the truth — they go where the data leads them.
The Executioner
The Executioner specializes in developing and delivering a detailed plan. The Executioner takes the vision and the future state and reverse engineers the path to get there.
This role stops the analysis and pushes the team to a shipping mentality.
The Integrator
Transformational programs have a lot of moving parts across a number of different business areas. To be successful, you need alignment across the organization. This is where The Integrator comes in.
The Integrator is able to see how the puzzle fits together.
